


The Luminous Rider's Promise

by Skelezomperman



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Genre: Action, Childhood Memories, Family, Family Bonding, Fluff, Heartwarming, Multiple background characters/ships, Protective Siblings, Young!Altena is funny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29206536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skelezomperman/pseuds/Skelezomperman
Summary: A look at Altena's relationship to her younger brother Leif over the years and how they help each other grow.
Relationships: Cian | Quan/Ethlyn
Kudos: 9





	The Luminous Rider's Promise

“Teatime is over Altena, I have to go do...knight stuff.”

Finn was having teatime with his lord’s young daughter Altena, just like they always did on Fridays. To her disappointment, he had to inform her that they had to finish so Finn could spar with some of the new squires.

“But Finn! Altena needs to serve you another serving of tea…,” responded the energetic toddler.

“...I suppose I will stay for a few more minutes,” he relented. “But I have to do my job - just like grown ups do.”

“Aww…” she said as she poured more tea into Finn’s cup. 

“Altena really likes being with you Finn - you should be happy about that!” said another voice. The voice belonged to Quan, who was coming with his wife Ethlyn to check on their daughter.

“Maybe this can be practice for if you ever have your own children in the future,” added Ethlyn. Finn blushed a little bit upon hearing this, thinking of Lachesis.

Altena then grabbed onto Finn’s sleeve as he was about to take a sip of the tea. 

“Yes, Altena?” He knew she usually did that a lot if she wanted to ask a question as she was a very curious child.

“Finn, why is Mommy’s belly so big?”

Quan chuckled before beginning to laugh hysterically. Finn on the other hand had no idea how to answer; Ethlyn took a seat next to Finn to answer Altena’s question.

“Because Mommy is growing a baby in there,” said Ethlyn. 

“A baby?” asked Altena, curious.

“Mm-hmm. And Altena is going to be a big sister!” added Ethlyn. 

“Altena can’t wait to be a big sister!” she exclaimed, overjoyed. “Then Altena will protect her little sister and play with her all the time!”

Ethlyn laughed. “I don’t know if the baby will be a boy or a girl yet,” she warned Altena. “But I still want to make a promise with you.”

“Hmm?”

Ethlyn extended her hand out to her daughter. “Do you pinky promise that you will be a good big sister?”

Altena wrapped her pinky around Ethlyn’s. “Altena pinky promises that she will be the best big sister ever!”

Ethlyn and Quan smiled. “I’m sure that you will be a great big sister, Altena,” said Quan. 

* * *

“It’s time, Altena,” said Quan.

“Time for what?”

“You’re going to see your baby brother for the first time, Altena.” 

“The baby is outside of Mommy now?!”

“Yes, he is, and you’re going to meet him now.”

Altena joyfully walked across the castle with her father to the nursery; at times she had even skipped, showing how happy she was to see him. They then finally entered the nursery, where Ethlyn was sitting in a rocking chair with a bundle in her lap.

“Altena…” called out Ethlyn.  
  


Altena ran over to her mother’s side. “Yes, Mommy?”

“I’d like you to meet your baby brother Leif now.” 

Altena saw the baby boy swaddled in the bundle, with only his face and a tuft of brown hair sticking out.

“Leif…” repeated the toddler.

“Yes, that’s his name,” Ethlyn said.

Leif woke up as Altena focused on him. He yawned and opened his eyes.

“Is Altena going to have a staring contest with Leif?” jokingly suggested Quan to his wife’s chagrin.

Altena stared into his eyes, eyes as brown as his hair. But it was not to have a staring contest with him; rather, it was for a different purpose. “Leif...I will keep my pinky promise to you,” she asserted. “I will be the best big sister ever!”

* * *

“Waaaaaait! My sister, stop it!”

Altena was on her wyvern leading a squadron of dragon knights against Seliph’s army when she was interrupted; she stopped her wyvern and landed on the ground upon being interrupted. She scoffed at the source of the voice; it was a scrawny brown haired teenage boy wearing some very worn-out white armor. He was armed with what appeared to be a light brand - a valuable weapon that was strange to see on someone who looked to have grown up in poverty. Altena lowered her lance - the Gáe Bolg lance gifted by her father when she came of age - and decided to interrogate him rather than fight; she thought that the boy was just confused rather than having malicious intentions.

“Who are you, and what came into you to call me your sister?” she called out to him.

“I am Leif...Leif of House Leonster,” he replied.

Altena tensed up upon realizing who he is; Leonster was Thracia’s sworn enemy. She prepared to fight Leif in case this was some kind of trap.

“And I am Altena, the princess of Thracia...your enemy,” she said to him in response.

Leif put down his sword, confusing Altena. He then started walking up to her. Altena knew that she could get rid of him now once and for all, but she felt that she had to entertain what the boy was trying to do.

“Altena, listen to me very clearly!” he shouted as he continued walking. “Your true parents - our parents - are Quan and Ethlyn, the very same ones that were slain by Travant seventeen years ago! We thought you were lost in that attack along with our legendary Gáe Bolg, but you’re here with that very same Gáe Bolg! That Gáe Bolg lance being your heritage, the birthright of the heir of Njörun!”

“What are you _t_ _alking_ about?!” shouted back Altena. “There is no way that my true father is my father’s arch-enemy!”

Leif got up next to Altena and looked up at her, pleading with her. “Look in my eyes, Altena. If you just look into my eyes, you will see the truth!”

Altena relented and decided to look into Leif’s eyes. But when she did that, something stirred within her; a memory of some kind, a vision of her parents and her baby brother.

“No...this can’t be! This can’t be true!” she said. “I have to speak with Father now!”

Altena suddenly pulled on the reins to her wyvern and took off, flying away to the south. Upon seeing this, Leif allowed himself to smile a little bit; he knew that his plan was working.

* * *

  
“Is everything alright, Altena?”  
  


Leif saw that his sister seemed rather weary. It had been barely a month since the dragon knight had joined their army; she did so after discovering that Leif was her true brother, choosing to follow him rather than stick with her adoptive country of Thracia.

“It’s nothing, Leif...I was just thinking of Arion,” she answered. She remembered her adoptive brother who had disappeared after being defeated in the last battle. Even if Arion was not her “true” brother, she still looked back on their interactions fondly; he had served as a mentor to her, even being the one to encourage her to defect to Seliph’s army after Travant had died.

“I thought as much,” responded Leif. “Is it true that he had been spirited away afterwards?”

“Yes…” sighed Altena. “According to reports, it was Julius...he might have been wanting for Arion to join forces with him.” 

Leif thought for a moment before coming up with an idea. “Hey, maybe…maybe this is good news!”

Altena looked down at her brother - her younger brother who was a good bit shorter than her. “How so?”

“If Arion is still alive, we could still help him,” Leif explained. “We can’t give up - as long as we move forward, everything will be fine in the end!”

Leif looked up at his sister with that same pleading look he had when they had first met. And just as she did the first time, Altena looked into his eyes and remembered that one memory...that memory from when she was that young child…

_“Leif...I will be the best big sister ever!”_

Altena’s frown went away when she recalled that memory; her glum look was replaced by one of determination. 

“Thank you, Leif! You’re right, we have to keep pushing forward! I do…for you, and for Arion…”

* * *

“Forgive me…”

Leif was startled when he heard the voice.

“...but I must fight!”

He turned around and looked up; the voice belonged to a man that was astride a wyvern. Leif immediately recognized who he was.

“Arion…!”

Leif ducked as Arion barreled towards him, ready to pierce him with the Heaven Lance Gungnir. Arion just barely missed Leif, but he was able to knock the master knight’s brave bow out of his hand.

“No…!” Leif gasped as the bow flew away from him. He knew that without the bow, he would probably not survive a round of combat with Arion.

Leif looked up and saw that Arion was preparing to try to take his head again. He spurred his horse on and decided that the best course of action would be to try to run away rather than die there; at least, that was his plan until he heard another voice.

“That’s enough Arion!”

He recognized the voice as belonging to his older sister Altena and stopped what he was doing. Arion also stopped to see what she was doing here.

“Altena?!” he managed to shout at the woman who had stopped him.

They both landed on the ground, facing each other. Leif watched as a bystander, choosing not to intervene as he wanted to see what would happen.

“Why in the world do you refuse to see reason?!” she responded. “How could you place your own pride over what truly matters?!”

Arion was left speechless.

“Take a good, long look at Prince Seliph and at everyone around him - take a look at my brother, Leif! Look at whom they are fighting for, setting their own suffering on the side for!”

After a pause, Arion finally responded to her. “...So you’re saying that the kid is fighting for justice, and I somehow am not?”

Altena groaned; she was exasperated by Arion’s stubbornness. She knew that drastic measures were needed to get Arion to change his behavior.

“You leave me with no other choice…” she softly said.

Altena dismounted her wyvern and threw the Gae Bolg down on the ground. She then walked over to Arion and kneeled down in front of him, surrendering herself. 

“...So be it. Take my life, not his,” she declared.

Leif was left agape at what his sister was doing. He was about to step in when he saw Arion step off his wyvern and kneel down himself in front of Altena.

“...V-very well, Altena,” stuttered Arion. “I get it, I was wrong. My next task will be for Seliph and Leif… wait, no… for you.”

Leif then ran to his sister and hugged her, overjoyed that his sister had saved him from a terrible fate. “Thank you so much!” he said to her. “Thank you…”

Altena sighed, annoyed by how clingy her brother was being. “We still have a whole war to finish, Leif.”

* * *

“I still don’t get it, Sister.”

Leif and Altena were sitting on a bench in Belhalla castle. They were awaiting an audience with the newly crowned Emperor; in the meantime, Leif decided to ask about something that came to his mind.

“Hm?”

“Why did you do it?” he asked her.

“Do what?”

“Do...what you did with Arion! When you almost sacrificed yourself so I wouldn’t be killed by him - why did you do it? Surely the army could have gone on without me if I died, right?”

Altena thought for a bit before speaking. “I remember when I was younger...I made a promise with Mother.”

“A promise?”

“A...a pinky promise.”

Leif laughed. “What could a _pinky promise_ have to do with anything?”

“It was at some point around your birth,” she explained. “I promised to Mother that I would be the best big sister ever, that I would protect you no matter what.”

Leif smiled as he heard this. “So you put yourself between me and Arion because of this promise you made to Mother?”

“Yes...I would never dishonor Mother by breaking that promise,” she responded. “I’ll always protect my little brother no matter what!” she added as she patted Leif on the head.

“Aww…” uttered Leif.

“So Leif, as your big sister I need to know...what are you doing with that troubadour girl? She isn’t trying to hurt you or anything, is she?”

Leif blushed and backed away from Altena’s hand; he was embarrassed that Altena had brought up his relationship with Nanna.

“N-nothing!” he stammered. “I-I’ll only tell you about Nanna if you tell me what you’ve been doing with Ced!” 

It was Altena’s turn to blush as her brother’s tease had hit hard; she had indeed gone out with Ced once since the war had ended and was looking forward to doing it more times.

“Fine, Leif...but only because you’re my little brother…” she responded.

_And so Altena and Leif both lived happily ever after. They retained their strong bond as siblings for the rest of their lives, trusting in each other and working to rebuild Thracia together._

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this fanfiction when I was looking at fanart of the Leonster family together when Altena and Leif were still kids. No, really. I thought about tying in the Altena's relationship to her brother when they were both young (i.e., when Leif is an infant) to their relationship when they've both grown up and are fighting in Seliph's army. If I wrote this well, Altena also grows throughout the entire piece - both in big ways and in subtle ways (like her learning not to speak in the third person); of course, she eventually grows to get the courage to stop Arion from killing Leif (an idea which I'm glad to have come up with). To those of you who read this, hopefully you liked it.
> 
> I also couldn't resist sneaking in references to some ships that I like. Sorry if you prefer Leif or Altena with someone else.


End file.
